Starting today (10 February 2015) consumers will be able to pick up a brand new smartphone without needing to be invited by an existing user. Until now, supply has been severely limited, meaning that anyone wanting a phone from the Chinese start-up needed to be invited by a friend.

However, in recent months OnePlus has been relaxing its rules and announcing specific days in which consumers can buy its flagship model without that invite.

Those restrictions have been dropped even further with the announcement that every Tuesday the OnePlus One will be available for anyone to buy. This will be the first time since its launch last year that the general public will have advance warning of when they will be able to buy the One.

Sales of the device have been steady, despite the convoluted purchase method. In October 2014 the UK sales manager of OnePlus said that daily sales in Britain topped 1,000 and worldwide the sales figures are in the high six-figure bracket.

With the announcement that the phone will be on general sale one day a week, it will be interesting to see where OnePlus, which is developing its OnePlus Two, goes from here.

To find out what we think of the latest phones on the market, check out Android magazine issue 147.